The Passover

INTRO

The Passover was really the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians, but the Lord passed over the Israelites. Moses and Aaron helped deliver God’s people; that ultimately pointed to the Deliverer, the Messiah. God brought about ten plagues: (1) water turned to blood; (2) frogs; (3) gnats; (4) flies; (5) death of livestock; (6) boils; (7) hail; (8) locusts; (9) darkness; and (10) death of the firstborn. Exodus 12 records God’s instructions for the Passover and the death of the firstborn. Because Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, God used the plagues to make His name known (Romans 9:17).

TEACHING

Exodus 12:1–2: God instructed Moses and Aaron to establish a new religious calendar for the Israelites that began in the month of the Passover, the March/April time frame. This month was called Abib, which means “ear month”, when grain was in the ear, meaning it was almost harvest time.¹At the end of the Babylonian captivity, this month was renamed Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7). Today, the Israelites use a civil calendar that begins at Rosh Hashanah in September/ October. God was starting something new for Israel, which was marked by a change in the calendar. This makes me think that when you embrace Messiah as your Savior, you get a whole new calendar, a whole new beginning.

Exodus 12:3–5: God instructed each household to select an unblemished one-year-old male animal (sheep or goat) on the tenth day of the month. Smaller families were instructed to join together and choose an animal “according to what each person will eat.” To be considered unblemished, the animal could have no faults, no defects, and no injuries.

Exodus 12:6: This animal was kept until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the whole community slaughtered the animals at twilight. Keeping the animals for four days allowed them to be sure they were perfect. Then the sacrifice of these animals would protect the Israelites in the Passover. The lamb reminds us of the time when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and Isaac’s question to Abraham as they made preparations: “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7).

This sacrificial lamb also foreshadows Christ as the sacrificial lamb. When John the Baptist saw Jesus approach him for baptism, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). When the Ethiopian eunuch read from Isaiah 53, he wanted to know who was “led like a sheep to the slaughter” (Acts 8:32), so Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Just as Isaiah 53:7 described, Jesus “was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth.” Peter described Jesus as a lamb without defect or blemish (1 Peter 1:18–20). In Revelation 5:5–6, John “saw One like a slaughtered lamb” standing before the throne of God. Scripture tells us that Jesus met the qualifications of an unblemished lamb. Jesus did not know sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). “He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). There was no sin in Him (1 John 3:5). Jesus is the Lamb of God. He’s perfect. He’s God in human form.

Exodus 12:7: They were told to take some of the blood of the innocent lamb and put it on the top (lintel) and sides (posts) of the door. Wiersbe said, “It wasn’t the life of the lamb that saved the people from judgment, but the death of the lamb.”²Likewise, Jesus’ death is what gives us life. Jesus came “to give His life—a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). When Jesus established the New Covenant, He said, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Jesus is the good shepherd who “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). We have been redeemed and forgiven through His blood (Ephesians 1:7), for Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5–6). “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22–23), so Jesus redeemed people for God by His blood (Revelation 5:9). Exodus 12 is a complete foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins.

Exodus 12:8–11: God gave specific instructions for consuming the Passover meal. The lamb had to be roasted and eaten that evening, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Every part of the lamb, including the head, legs, and inner organs had to be consumed. Any leftovers had to be burned up. The Lord’s Passover had to be eaten in a hurry, and the Israelites had to be dressed for travel with sandals on their feet and staff in hand.

Exodus 12:12–13: God passed through the land of Egypt that night to execute His judgment against all the gods of Egypt by striking the firstborn male of both man and beast. The Israelites would be protected from this plague by the distinguishing mark of the lamb’s blood on their doorposts and lintels.

Exodus 12:14–20: God instructed Israel to celebrate the Passover every year as a memorial to this night. They were instructed to remove all yeast from their homes and eat only unleavened bread for seven days. For this entire week they would “observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread” to remember how God brought them out of Egypt. They could do no work other than preparing food, and on the first and seventh days, they were commanded to hold “a sacred assembly.” Those who disobeyed these instructions were to be cut off from Israel.

Exodus 12:21–23: Moses instructed the Israelites to select and slaughter the Passover animal, then dip a cluster of hyssop into the blood and spread the blood over the doorposts and lintels of their homes. When the Lord passed through Egypt, He would “not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you” when He saw the blood. Wiersbe said, “Our faith may be as weak as the hyssop, but it’s not faith in our faith that saves us, but faith in the blood of the Savior.”³

Could “the destroyer” in verse 23 be the pre-incarnate Christ?⁴In Numbers 22:31, “the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, he saw the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) standing in the path with a drawn sword in His hand. Balaam knelt and bowed with his face to the ground.” In Isaiah 37:36, “the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.” Exodus 23:20–23 said God would send an angel before the Israelites to protect them and bring them into the Promised Land, and to wipe out the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. To protect may mean to defend Israel and kill the enemy. Jesus could be the Destroyer preparing the way to point to Himself. Jesus had all kinds of roles in the Old Testament. He wasn’t always speaking; maybe He was wrestling, revealing Himself in a burning bush, wiping out people in order to prepare a way for His people. Revelation 19:11–14 reveals Jesus as a powerful warrior who “judges and makes war in righteousness” as He leads the armies of heaven in battle. Jesus is not always this peaceful person; He’ll do what it takes to deliver His people.

Exodus 12:24–28: Moses conveyed God’s command to observe this Passover ritual every year so they could teach their children how God struck the Egyptians and delivered them from captivity. So, the Israelites did as God commanded.

Exodus 12:29–36: Passover happened. The Israelites were set free through a perfect little lamb. God struck the firstborn in Egypt, and Pharaoh drove the Israelites out of Egypt.Just as God had promised, the Egyptians gave the Israelites silver and gold jewelry and clothing as they sent them out of Egypt. And that lamb would eventually become Jesus.

Exodus 12:37–42: The Israelites began the journey to the Promised Land. Josephus said there could have been up to 2 million people (600,000 men plus their families) who traveled with their flocks and herds. The “ethnically diverse crowd” could have included Egyptians who married Jews or Egyptians who feared God. These are the people who, over time, had become part of the Israelite community though they were from other lands. “Then He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and no one among His tribes stumbled. Egypt was glad when they left, for the dread of Israel had fallen on them” (Psalm 105:37–38). After 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites were delivered! They were going to the Promised Land.

Jude 1:5 explains, “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” So, who delivered the people out of Egypt? The Lord! Jesus! God will go to any extremes, through Jesus Christ, to save His people.

Exodus 13: This chapter restated God’s command to consecrate the firstborn to Him (v. 2), described their route out of Egypt (vv. 17–18), revealed that Moses brought Joseph’s bones with them (v. 19), and emphasized that the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud/fire to lead them (vv. 21–22). But there’s no pillar without the blood of the lamb.

CLOSING

God is in the business of deliverance, and my prayer is that each one of you have been delivered from the bondage of sin and death through the blood of Christ.